Buying groceries thrift shops, flea markets and property gross sales can also be overwhelming. With the sheer quantity of stuff, how are you aware the place to start out? How do you notice gem stones amid all of the … neatly, junk?
As a qualified reseller who has been combing via thrift shops for the easier a part of 30 years, I will be able to assist. In case you’re able to chop your buying groceries time in part, rating larger bargains and stroll away with brag-worthy reveals you’ll be able to turn for money, learn on.
From hard-to-find home items to resale money-makers, the whole thing featured in my “Thrift Store Like a Professional” collection qualifies as a BOLO (Be At the Glance-Out for) merchandise. While you discover it, purchase it!
Featured discover: antique Curtis Jeré sculptures
I hesitated including Curtis Jeré sculptures to this collection as a result of I hadn’t discovered one within the wild in additional than a 12 months… after which I promptly discovered the piece pictured above. So, hope (and legwork) springs everlasting. Those mid-century gem stones are nonetheless available in the market ready to be found out in thrift retail outlets and the dusty attics of property gross sales.
The Curtis Jeré emblem is a mash-up of 2 names — Curtis (Kurt) Freiler and Jerry Fels. Artists and brothers-in-law, Freiler and Fels sought after to convey gallery-quality artwork to the general public. In 1963, they started running in combination to design forged steel and resin sculptures that may be branded as Curtis Jeré (pronounced with a French aptitude as zhair-AY) and dispensed via their new corporate, Artisan Space.
Decidedly mid-century in genre, the corporate’s paintings was once additionally brutalist — stemming from the French phrase for uncooked, “brut” — a design aesthetic that appreciated huge, exaggerated paperwork and increased the uncooked fabrics used to create artwork. Brutalism started as an architectural motion within the Fifties and ultimately influenced different sorts of design.
At the side of the Curtis Jeré emblem, Artisan Space was once offered in 1972. As of late, the corporate reproduces vintage Jeré sculptures and new designs. On the other hand, within the secondhand marketplace, antique items from the overdue Sixties and ’70s are maximum in-demand.
Why purchase it?
Like Eames furnishings and Russell Wright dinnerware, Jeré sculptures have grow to be icons of mid-century design. Unique works get spotted as a result of their scale, craftsmanship and design sophistication. And even though many house shops now promote imported pieces impressed by way of Jeré, including a real piece to your house supplies bragging rights (particularly for those who discover one for pennies at the buck in a thrift retailer).
Even higher, antique Curtis Jeré sculptures proceed to understand in price. During the last 10 years, I’ve watched resale costs continuously climb as new patrons gobble up the dwindling provide of mid-century stock.
On eBay, this 58-inch wall sculpture entitled “Birds in Flight” lately offered for $1,700, and this tabletop owl sculpture offered for $400. On Etsy, costs for Jeré items have a tendency to be even upper. This wall-mounted 54-inch tree sculpture is indexed for $1,995, and this brass eagle sculpture can also be yours for $1,795.
What to search for
The arena of antique Curtis Jeré sculptures is difficult for 2 causes. First, the emblem “Curtis Jeré” is ceaselessly added to on-line public sale listings in an effort to bump up non-Jeré pieces in seek effects. This procedure is known as “key phrase spamming” and even though frowned upon by way of websites like Etsy and eBay, it’s tricky to regulate. In case you’re researching related costs, it’s useful to understand that many mid-century-style brass, copper and bronze sculptures are ceaselessly purposely misattributed to Jeré.
The second one complication pertains to the Jeré signature. Unique signatures are both handwritten in black ink immediately onto the steel or incised into it. Ink signatures are way more commonplace and in most cases come with the copyright image adopted by way of “C. Jeré” and the 12 months of manufacturing.
Since the ink mark is really easy to copy, some unscrupulous resellers upload it to any steel sculpture that appears vaguely mid-century. Keeping off those items takes just a little of follow and shut exam of the manner, welds and floor end.
Professional tip: Unfortunately, many Jeré items have fallen sufferer to the spray-painting craze. In case you discover a piece that appears proper, it can be well worth the time and hassle to strip the paint (even though any ink signature can be misplaced within the procedure). YouTube provides a number of tutorials on safely taking out latex paint from steel.
